2017"Altiero Spinelli Prize for Outreach" winners announced

The European Commission has announced the names of the 22 winners of the 2017 "Altiero Spinelli Prize for outreach: spreading knowledge about Europe".

Six first prizes (50,000 € each), six second prizes (30,000 € each) and ten third prizes (17,000 € each) are awarded to works that help communicate "Europe" to its citizens. Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics, said:

"We need to enhance the citizens' understanding and ownership of the European project. We need to bring "Europe" (its cultural richness, its history, its founding values, its institutions, its benefits and achievements) closer to its citizens. We need to inform the citizens about "Europe", to inspire and involve them. I congratulate the winners of the 2017 Altiero Spinelli Prize for Outreach for their contribution".

A team of 36 independent evaluators set up by the Commission selected the 22 winners from a total of 279 applications. An award ceremony will take place in Brussels on 20 June, with the participation of EP President Antonio Tajani and of the Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics. The Prize is an initiative of the European Parliament (MEP Luigi Morgano, S&D) that is implemented by the European Commission. 2017 was the first year of implementation. The Prize will continue in 2018.

The first prize winners are:

Balázs Márton, for his Eurologus Online news portal (Hungary);

Giacinto della Cananea, for his work Model Rules on EU administrative procedures (Italy);

Maria Antonietta Mariani, for her Babylon Ring novel (Italy);

Sergio Cebrián, for the European news website VoxEurope (Spain);

Thorsten Ludwig, for the study Engaging citizens with Europe's cultural heritage (Germany); and